British Deputy Head of Mission David Fitton joined other envoys to call on Minister of Justice Minoru Yanagida and express concern over the increase in international parental abductions involving Japan, according to a joint press statement. It was issued on 22 October by 13 diplomatic missions, but was not reported by the local media.
The envoys urged Tokyo to ratify the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Since 2003, there have been 38 unresolved cases of child abduction and related child custody and access issues involving UK nationals in Japan. Japan is the only G-7 nation that has not signed the convention, to which 82 countries have acceded.
